All Posts by Mike Saif

0 Defensive Cover the Right Way

By Mike Smith Pressure, Cover, Balance. Foundations of defense. While tons of work is put into the various aspects of pressure, we as coaches often miss a chance to improve our team defense by only dealing with cover as the next player in line to pressure. For this reason, many players simply fly to the

0 Attacking From Wide Areas

0 Using Hunting Triangles

By Matt Carroll A quick Youtube search of the 1978 Dutch National Team reveals what pressing can look like when taken to its most extreme measures. Packs of roving players, up to 8 at a time, running full sprint at the opposition player on the ball leading to blind passes forward or out of bounds

0 How Do I Coach My Goalkeepers With No Goalkeeper Coach - Part 3

By Philip Cauchi Question - We don't have a goalkeeper coach, so I have to do all the GK training.  I have to get this done in regular training sessions with the team, so do you have any ideas for me to get my goalkeeper training done at the same time as my players? The

0 Aerobic Circuit With a Ball

By Philip Cauchi Title: Soccer specific aerobic circuit. Theme: Maintain the quality of soccer actions. Development of the soccer domains: Technical-tactical: Concepts of triangles, distances and angles, space creating and quick ball circulation. Mental: Attitude towards winning the ball immediately upon losing it. Socio-psychological: Communication (verbal and visual) and collaboration. Physical: Maintain the quality of

0 Side by Side Transition Game

By Matthew Carroll - Description: This small sided game is used to improve game and spatial awareness with a focus on utilizing the 6 to switch play. It can also be used to teach defensive positioning and 1v1s Setup: Create two grids that are connected in the middle. The size of the grid should be

1 Saving Low Driven Shots

By Philip Cauchi - Title: Saving low driven shots. Aim: Use the scoop technique to save shots close to the body. Outcomes: 1. Feet shoulder-width apart. 2. Stay behind the ball’s trajectory. 3. Eyes fixed on the ball. 4. Be light with the weight on the balls of the feet. 5. Arms and hands close

1 Passing Combination Drills

By Arthur Bell - Setup: Area – 30 yards x 30 yards Players x 12. Markers x 12. Balls. Two players at each of the corner yellow markers. One in the red marker gate. A ball at each corner. Execution: Passing in an anti-clockwise direction. The player who is standing in the middle of the

2 How Pep Guardiola's Teams Score Goals

By Matthew Carroll Pep Guardiola’s teams have been hailed as, to his annoyance, “tiki-taka” based teams. Teams that string together a million passes until they wear down the opposition into making a catastrophic mistake and then use that possession to exploit it. While Manchester City can play games where they can keep their possession stats

2 Flexible Formations – Defending eBook

0 Playing the False Nine in 7v7

By Matt Carroll Made famous by Lionel Messi, the false 9 tactic allows a single forward the freedom to occupy spaces between the defensive backline and midfield, with runners playing off them creating the depth and width in the attack. To utilize this in a 7v7 model the formation should be either a 2-2-1 or

0 Rondo to Train the Covering Defender

In this week's Animated Drills Video Matthew Carroll shares a rondo that will help train your players on the first defender, the covering defender and also passing and possession. The diagram is created with the Academy Soccer Coach software. See more at www.academysoccercoach.co.uk Tom

0 Waist High Service to Force Mistakes

By Mike Smith What if your early service to the far post isn’t working? What if your opponent packs the box so full your players can’t find the combinations on the ground? What if your players who are usually good in the air are marked by players who know how to take that advantage away?

0 How Do I Coach My Goalkeepers With No Goalkeeper Coach - Part 2

By Philip Cauchi Question - We don't have a goalkeeper coach, so I have to do all the GK training.  I have to get this done in regular training sessions with the team, so do you have any ideas for me to get my goalkeeper training done at the same time as my players? The

0 Conditioning With Quick Transition Game

By Philip Cauchi Title: Quick transitions. Theme: High intensity intermittent. Development of the soccer domains: Technical: Passing, dribbling, running with the ball and shooting. Tactical: Attacking in a numerical superiority and defending in a numerical advantage. Socio-psychological: Concentration, composure, quick decision-making, communication and collaboration. Physical: Quick recovery between soccer actions. Organisation: The practice area should

0 Diagonal Transition Game

By Matthew Carroll - Description: The Purpose of the Diagonal Transition Game is to develop, in a game like setting, player’s recognition of opportunities to play long diagonal balls on the counter to open up space on the opposite field for 1v1 situations of a striker against a outside back. Setup: Play on either full

0 Closing Down the Shooting Angle

By Philip Cauchi - Aim: Narrow down the opponent’s shooting angle. Outcomes: 1. Feet shoulder width apart. 2. Toes pointed forwards. 3. Knees slightly bent. 4. Be light on the balls of feet. 5. Eyes focused on the ball. 6. Lean slightly forward. Practice 1: Catching mid-level balls from three different shooting angles. Preparation: Goalkeeper

0 Diagonal Shooting SSG

By Arthur Bell - Setup: Area – One third of field. Players x 8. GK x 1. Mannequins x 2. Markers x 2. Balls. Players on both sides of the goal, one player 25 yards from goal behind mannequin and one GK in goal Execution: Players at A and C start with a ball. Player

0 The Backwards Diagonal Killer Pass

By Matthew Carroll If you watch Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City you will see an abundance of this type of assist: It often comes from some type of patterned play that leads to a winger getting isolated with a fullback on the edge of the box, takes the ball to the end line, and plays a

0 Flexible Formations – Attacking eBook

0 Effective Attacking as an Inverted Winger

By Dan Severn An inverted winger if the use of a player on the opposite wing to their dominant foot (a left footed player, playing on the right wing, or vice versa). The obvious benefit to playing with an inverted winger is that it will allow for better opportunities to shoot when cutting inside; but

0 Pass and Move or Pass and Hold

By Mike Smith “ Go!!!!”, “ Give them some options, don’t just stand there!” , followed by “ Support!!!”, “ Don’t run away from the play!”. These are some of the most confusing and contradictory instructions players hear. If a player is supposed to always pass and move, how can they also stay in and

0 Attacking and Conditioning Drills

By Philip Cauchi Title: Combined technique and strength endurance. Theme: Applied strength. Development of the soccer domains: Technical: Attacking heading, aerial passing, dribbling, feints/fakes, and tackling. Tactical: Defending 1v1. Mental: Concentration, quick shift of focus (attacking in a 1v1 after heading the ball) and attitude to the positive or negative transition if the defender wins

0 Swiss Flag Four Corners Game

By Matthew Carroll - Description: The Swiss Four Corners drill is similar to the normal four corners game except that instead of being a large grid it has four channels, similar to the shape of the Swiss flag. The purpose of these channels is to create opportunities for players to possess through the middle in